Added: 2 years ago
From: AChambers10
Views: 173,683
Sort by time | Sort by thread (beta)

Link to this comment:

Share to:

All Comments (216)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • I love G.Ls version, But Damn Johnny opened himself so much with this. He puts such sadness and vulnerability into it. The pathos is enough to clench the heart you can hear the regrets and love inside his voice, as if its his life he laying open and bare before all of us. A man with nothing left to lose unafraid. Who took lifes kicks and punches and stood up bruised but not broken.

    He lived and died by his own rules and in the end, shouldnt we all?

    Thank You Johnny ~ R.I.P

  • pure joy, painful as hell. thank you for posting.!!! 

  • Here's one more that I just found:

    John R. "Johnny" Cash (February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003)

  • How heartbreaking! You hear the fragility in Johnny's voice. He speaks of the moments he regrets, the pain he left behind. And yes I love Gordon Lightfoots version. There is plenty of room to love both. Gordon was speaking of divorce and Johnny was speaking of his whole life, of what he got wrong. And all of it both singers are speaking of the end of something precious to them.

  • he puts so much passion in his songs/covers. he seriously almost made me cry with this

  • This just broke my heart.

  • 10 people are wrong

  • tonite is the first I heard this cover by John......once again I am stunned how the man can take the best that others have to offer and make it his own, as if he wrote it and lived it himself. stunned and amazed.

  • so nice in his voice.

  • End of life gives this song full closure. Masterpiece of art and life.

  • Only 15, listen to Heavy metal but absolutely love Johnny Cash!<3

  • @Cyberdyne7 Great to hear that dude...I am 49 and try to keep my mind open to and I grew up hearing Johnny Cash.

  • wow- this made me cry.

  • Oh, it's beautiful song! He sings it very tenderly and feeling.

  • I never heard him sing this song before! This is such a rarity!

  • i grew up listening to johnny my mum and dad loved him r.i.p johnny your music still lives on :-) xxx

  • ;'(

  • Comment removed

  • The Greatest Thing about Johnny Cash, is he makes the lyrics jump out at people, he does this better than anyone else ever has or ever will.

  • I'd listen to him sing the phone directory... his pacing was perfect. That's natural skill.

  • 9 people can't read my mind

  • WOW! Amazing performance. Johnny Cash put his own special signature on this classic.

  • This is one of the greatest songs ever written. I still get goose bumbs when I hear all these years later. When Gordon Lightfoot sings this, it is haunting. When I heard Johnny Cash sing this, it was soul crushing. I actually have a hollow ache in my chest after hearing this version. Real physical pain. I wanna cry about all my lost loves now. Especially the one. You all know the one.

  • @graemelockieable (whispers) Great white buffalo...

  • When I was ten, my parents divorced. This song was on the radio at the time. My mother said that this song described the experience of divorce perfectly. Even forty years later, I still cry when I hear this song. This version is particularly raw. I miss Johnny.

  • my god, the pain in his voice during these late covers he recorded... he made himself so vulnerable in the end

  • What a brave, brave performance. Chills me to the bone and touches my heart every time I hear it.

  • unbelievable....wow

  • anyone know where I can get a big print of the first Johnny pic, flipping the bird..?

  • Started out, thinking Didn't Like it in comparison to the original .. in 15 seconds of the vocal track the Emotion Pouring out of his Soul was Overwhelming, I spent rest of The Song in Tears, And I not A big Softy This Man has experienced more than anyone could Ever Imagine, And he Brings it ALL to the Table in this song... Powerful Beyond just Mere Words, This Man was able to Breath Life into Every Word He ever sung ...

  • @DarthIncubuss

    This is the best way to view this beautiful song. Great thought on a great version of a beautiful song,

  • He was ill, and probably emotional.. thats what makes this my favourite vocal take of all time, and god rest his soul. He definitely had his finger on the pulse all his life, and i love this cover of a great song.

  • did Johnny Cash have an aboriginal background?

  • GANGSTA!

  • his voice <3

  • Amazing, simply Amazing how Johnny Cash turned this hit into song that is contemporary and full of meaning!

  • Y'all suppose the first picture is directed at dhadley67?

  • @rormc So go and listen to something else you dribbling fucking idiot?

  • @rormc You poor ignorant idiot.

  • Jonny Cash-my idle since I first heard him in 1954. Brings chills up my spine and a tear to my eye. May God bless you and June, Johnny.

    Ken, Toronto, Ontario

  • Wonderful to hear, Johnny!

  • A true geneous!

  • Well done by Johnny Cash; honest, succulent, white knuckles good. Sure, maybe he drank a bit much sometimes, but he always left his "guts" in his music.

  • @dhadley67 u r a pompous asshole

  • @dhadley67 u stupid ignorant cunt,he died of cancer not of liver failure.dont listen to someone you dont like or appreciate,go listen to some pop shit..

  • @dhadley67 You are living proof of reincarnation. No one could possibly get to be so stupid in just one lifetime.

  • @dhadley67 you suck ass, what the fuck do you know about talent? zilch! Go fuck your mother, then go jack-off and cry.

  • @bungmiester Jacking off and crying is much more fun then you'd think!

  • Total passion, depth of vocals and emotion. Truely missed.

  • He did indeed earn it!

  • Beautiful

    

  • My heart breaks everytime I hear Johnny's voice crack at 2:41...

  • @MNWreckingCrew is he choking up? damn this is depressing but I love it.

  • @ChicanoTattooArt I don't think he choked up but I assume it's possible. I think his voice, obviously weak by this point, just cracked.

  • this album is so sad, in a beautiful kind of way. RIP Johnny, god bless

  • That once monumental voice made all the more stirring when faltering as a frail echo of its former self. I get chills when this man sings this song. Want to hear what humanity and mortality sound like? Listen to his haunting performance. True artistry.

  • i like the raw sound of johnny here, like hes singing to someone he knows ...its not as lyrical or tuned the way the original is, its like youre hearing a man confess to his woman ..its nice

  • The one and only -- what a legend

  • I have sung this for many years and loved it since I first heard it in high school. I am not G.L., but I give it my all when I sing it. The point of this is that though G.L. has this song in his heart probably more than anyone could, hearing Mr. Cash put his heart and soul into it, with such emotion is really what this song is all about.He obviously loved the love of his life, as I do mine. She is a beautiful singer-songwriter and contemporary composer and I pray we sing together forever.Love it

  • love Johnny-and may God bless Rick Rubin

  • @bohs1984 Kidd, you should learn how to read (as in analyze a statement contained in a text, not saying you are illiterate) and also to control your frustrations.

    There were two separate statements in my post, the first being a joke :)

    Damn, lighten up, this is music not the debate team. Just enjoy the damn song.

  • Johnny cash covering your song if probably the greatest compliment possible. It's like hearing god's voice saying: "great work bro".

  • @dainumo And this isnt the first time he's covered Gordon's music either! Id say he also gave 2 thumbs up with that "great work bro"!

  • Those who trash this don't know what music is all about... heart and soul, and Johnny Cash The Man In Black had it all. His legend will live forever.

  • I bet Mr. Cash is having a blast right now. All his covers are like saying to all the artists:

    You know those songs that made you famous and you think you know how to sing? Well... listen to this!

    Pure feeling, no tricks or gimmicks, this is the real music.

  • @napalmeon Yeah, because Gorden Lightfoot couldn't really sing and had a bunch of gimmicks and tricks; You fucking idiot. Cash was paying these people the greatest honor of their lives by singing these songs and I'm sure every artist who wrote a song, from Personal Jesus to this, was out of their fucking mind with pride that this great artist felt these songs meant somehting to him and were worthy of his time and attention.

  • For Johnny's next number, a guitar will accompany his casket in the key of d minor.

  • A lot of people do not understand that the best covers are raw and emotionally wrenching. This made me cry. Especially when he says "I'm just trying to understand the feelings that you lack." And the sparse arrangement is great. Five stars.

  • Thanks for posting this. Gordon Lightfoot is a living legend. Johnny is a legend.

  • Cold steel bars blocking Old Johnny from the next milleneum Worn out telomeres without the genetic assistance of 21st century molecular biology. It is OK. He'll be reincarnated and play music again and again and again forever in eternity . .

  • one word...Amazing

  • amazed by the pain & emotion in his voice

  • amazed

  • Its not really about how he sings it, its about how closely it relates to his life if only more people new about him.

  • so much pain in this song , it hurt me! JOHNNY GOD WILL SHOW YOU ALL YOU WANTED IN ONE SECOND YOU HAVE IT ALL! R I P!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAA GREATH SONG!

  • If all listeners who have made adverse criticisms REALLY listened, it would soon become apparent that he IS in tune. It's not a copycat cover - it's an original cover,

    possibly the best I've heard. His phrasing is spot on - don't compare with Lightfoot's

    phrasing which is also great - different styles.

  • Yeah ... this is just terrible. It doesn't fit him and he's pretty far gone.

  • Gorgeous and heartbreaking...

  • lightfoot wrote it.. he should sing it. Cash should have passed on this one.

  • THE MAN IN BLACK - THE GODFATHER OF GOTH - MISS YOU MY BROTHER IN SONG! FLY HIGH AND FLY PROUD.......................^V­^

  • WOW! I didn't know he covered this song! Amazing! Now its his and always will be! :)

  • @KristaDawn1985 It's his? This is a HORRENDOUS cover.

  • @Calbenmike You're clearly hearing impaired. I feel sorry for you.

  • @KristaDawn1985 To simply like this song automatically because Johnny Cash is a legend is ludicrous. This cover is horrible.

  • @Calbenmike I dont'! I like it because its good song :) Wayyyy better than the 1990's version of it.

  • @Calbenmike and I'm listening to it for the third time in a row trying to see where your coming from...but I can't! Gives me chills every time. His voice is so haunting and music so simple. Amazing.

  • @KristaDawn1985 Here's a way to listen to this song: Listen to Lightfoot's properly sung rendition three times and then listen to this bastardized version. Cash is so out of tune. This is painful to listen to. The original of this song is from the early 70's not the 90's.

  • @Calbenmike ...I have. Mournful sorry.  This is wayyyy better :)

  • @KristaDawn1985 Wow. That's all I have to say.

  • @Calbenmike Calbenmike, no disrespect, but are you serious? It's not about how in tune or whatever someone is. It's about Johnny singing from the depths of his soul, and that's always in tune. I think this cover is beautiful, as all of Cash's songs are. Have a good day.

  • Simply beautiful, arresting, and I am completely choked up.

  • HIS VOICE IS WHAT CONTEMPLATES MY LONELINESS...THE VOICE OF A GRANDFATHER I NEVER HAD... R.I.P

  • This is a beautiful cover of a great song by a great man. That's all.  That's all you need.

  • @ayotteonly I couldn't disagree more. This is probably the worst cover I've ever heard.

  • wow

  • Johnny Cash does not suck, please. This song doesnt work, but his version of NIN's Hurt is spectacular....and his older work is a masterpiece, and it is not monotone. Get real.

  • I prefer the original by Gordon Lightfoot.

  • This song, and the way he sings it just evokes some heavy emotions. J.C. is the best! Looking forward seeing you in heavenly places.

  • I prefer the original Lightfoot version, but Johnny makes it a little sadder for me. Damn, his voice really projects emotion well. One of my friends says that he sucks because his voice is monotonous, but that's not what makes a singer bad. This is great, even though I'm damn near crying. Reached a level that's nearly impossible these days for new artists.

  • If you want to hear Pavarotti, look him up. This is perfection of a different sort.

  • Look, ill and dying 70 year old Johnny Cash, after having lost his reason for living and the love of his life, could sing any damn thing he wanted to and you should just STFU and listen. He earned that.

    What he may have lost in technical prowess as his life ended he more than made up for by expressing pain, passion and hard edged experience that puts a lump in your throat, and that most singers can only dream of.

  • @IDioGenesis I wouldn't say he completely lost his reason to live (Johnny was a devout Christian, as was his wife), but her death definitely shook him to his core, obviously, and hit him very, very hard (as it would for anyone). He died four or so months later. Other than that, right on. I love the way his voice just breaks toward the end. Now that's a musician. Good day to you, IDioGenesis.

  • @IDioGenesis That is all true...but it doesn't necessarily make for an aesthetically pleasing experience.

    Yes, he deserves great respect, but that doesn't mean he can't also be rather pathetic.

  • @eldiran2 Yes, I supose we shall all end up pathetic in the end but it would be nice to think that a performance like that is still left in us all when the end draws near. That was not pathos but passion.

  • @IDioGenesis thank you... i think you expressed that perfectly

  • @IDioGenesis I agrree in everything you said 100%> Actually, the fragility in Johnny's voice adds to the melancholy of the song. Knowing he loved June the way he did you know every lyric is expressed for her. Perfection in the crystal clear ambience of a perfect voice, NO. But what Johnny lacks in range, he makes up for in feeling. Artist's today lack that.

  • @IDioGenesis He didn't lose his reason for living, but her death certainly affected him deeply. Very deeply. As any death to someone so close to your heart, especially the other half of it, would. But yeah. All the technical nonsense is just that- a bunch of nonsense. He sang with his heart and soul and you can hear it in each word. Especially when he almost breaks down during it.

  • @Spike294 Best part of the song.

  • @IDioGenesis he never lost a thing =)

  • @IDioGenesis not sure who you responded too or about in this song... Not as good as Lightfoot I know but then neither was his version of "The first time ever I saw your face" but Cash killed NIN in "Hurt" and has a number of great hits that are perfect.. RIP J.R.

  • @IDioGenesis agreed! It's actually all his background that make that song so strong! I can't imagine that song with his voice in The Ring of Fire or Walk the Line.

  • @Bluestone365 kill urself plz.

  • @dumplingshakes22 Lol, thats a bit harsh ;) But i WAS right, this is crap!

  • @Bluestone365 I'd rather hear an artist evolving in a raw, human way, than to play the same old songs the same old way. The guy covered NIN and Soundgarden for Christs sake he's got more street cred in his little pinky than you could ever get sitting on YouTube flaming legends who have passed away

  • @Bluestone365 R u serious? I really hope you're not or you are seriously musically undereducated.

  • @Bluestone365 you realy don't get it. sorry for you.

  • Hi Crowndefender, i respect your opinion but i think it is a little harsh, consider this would Bob Dylan or Tom Waits win the X factor or American Idol.

  • Johnny bearing his soul.....

  • Is that really Johnny Cash singing?

  • @schuey999 No Bing Crosby

  • Sorry but that was ARSE !! -- if it didn't say Johnny Cash at the top nobody would have made it past the first 15 seconds - not one of his best.

  • very harsh

  • don't think you can compare Johnny's with the original, they are both filled with emotion though.

  • There is and never will be anything better than the original..Think the world of ya JC..but the true remains.

  • Look.

  • rip mr CASH

  • Better than the orginal !

  • @lrac Very far from it.

  • LOVE

  • I think Johnny's voice got so much better with age. It has so much more emotion and power behind it.

  • jonhy cash for the win

    

  • lightfoot is a legend. nobody writes anything better. the genius is in creating, not the copy.

  • @torontohack I couldn't agree more.

  • "You see, there's more to music than sounding youthful."

    Ah yes, the words of a fully processed permanent adolescent. You're utterly conformed to this base, puerile age.

  • So good

  • one of the best songwritter in the history of music.

    rare are those who really put their heart and meaning in every single song.

  • @frankieutd Gordon Lightfoot was the original writer. This is a cover of that.

  • thank got rick ruben understood the talent

  • @nothadnotbad Do you enjoy Johnathan Cash?

  • Brilliant performance! What you nay sayers don't understand is that this man is telling a story, HIS story, when he covers this song and others like Hurt. A story about coming from a dreadfully poor family, the loss of a sibling that he blames himself for, fame, success, drug addiction, love and love lost, never feeling "good enough" for his father, etc. Know the background and you might be able to appreciate this talent.

  • @madzdad1991 I totally agree

  • This is a truly dreadful performance, embarrassingly bad. It's always a shame when one doesn't know when to quit.

  • @Jitpring ignoramous 

  • @snoogans999 Wrongo bongo. You've been processed by the publicity machine. You, and the other processed sheep here, feel obligated to approve of this embarrassing performance. This is very common today.

  • @Jitpring the man was almost dead...As morbid as it may sound I think there is something uniquely artistic about having such a broken and frail voice carrying on like it's his last confession, especially when the voice was so strong beforehand

  • @snoogans999 Yes, he was almost dead. Yet you approve of this. Only in a culture of death is one's death rattle seen as fit matter for public consumption. Sick.

    O age, thou art shamed.*

    O shame, where is thy blush?**

    -Shakespeare, Julius Caesar,* Hamlet**

  • @Jitpring

    Dude shut your FACE! Your lame commenting is the only embarrassment here.

  • @romoled Not at all. I'll continue to speak out against all such Oprahism (for such exhibitionism is, of course Oprahist; no, all must NOT be revealed) as I wish. It's very interesting, by the way, to see just how processed you and your ilk here are. In addition to feeling obligated to approve of such embarrassing and morbid exhibitionism, you've no doubt branded yourself with at least one tattoo as well, and are thus part of today's herd of "individuals" and "freethinkers," correct? Don't lie.

  • @Jitpring Once you're done battling Oprah in your mind, can you stop deriding the accomplishments of the deceased? You see, there's more to music than sounding youthful; art is not a science. Thank God.

  • @Jitpring Heh, well argued. Probably true too.

  • seriously rebekah you need to shut the fuck up about mj. His music sucks more dick than he does. He was a great singer, a shitty song writer, and a pedophile. end of story.

  • @zekethehillbilly Who asked your opinion??? Since you joined in, who actually wrote Billie Jean??? I think it was Michael Jackson and it was a best seller at the time and is still a great song. And I'm just going to repeat that he went on trial and was found innocent, which means he didn't do it.

    Now since no ones asked you, mind your own business!!!

  • @Rebekah270984 *Yawn* Boring...BTW no one asked your opinion either...

  • @zekethehillbilly If it's boring you don't need to comment do you??? And if you get your facts straight, I commented on here a few months ago and this whole debate has carried on from there. So unless you have something constructive to say, I suggest you just don't reply as it bores me!!!

  • The richness and depth of his voice is incomparable. This song sung by Johnny Cash just brought the tears to my eyes. Beautifully emoted.

  • g lightfoot version is a lot better

  • @evelskunny I have to agree too. Though Johnny does add some emotion to it, being in the situation he was in.

  • I second that , Brilliant!!!!

  • YOU NIGGAZ DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT M NIGGA IS TALKING ABOUT IN THIS SONG

  • This song is incredibly beatiful!

  • not got anything on the original sorry.